COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker: Over 41.38 lakh doses administered in India on August 10

More than 41.38 lakh vaccine doses were administered in India on August 10, the Union Health Ministry's latest provisional report suggested. With that, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 51.90 crore.

On the 207th day of the vaccination drive on August 10, 30.50 lakh beneficiaries received their first shot and 10.87 lakh people were given their second dose.

The country took 85 days to touch the figure of 10 crore. It then took 45 days to cross the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach 30 crore. India took another 24 days to reach 40 crore and 20 more days to cross 50 crore vaccinations, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said.

The government has revised the gap between the two doses for the Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, to 12-16 weeks. However, the interval for the second dose of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin remains unchanged.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide vaccination drive on January 16, with healthcare workers at the frontline of India's COVID-19 battle getting their first jabs. The country began the second phase of the vaccination drive from March 1, in which, everyone above 60 years of age and those over 45 years with comorbidities could start getting the vaccine.

From April 1, vaccination was opened for everyone aged 45 and above with or without comorbidities.

India rolled out the third phase of its COVID-19 vaccination drive for those in the 18-44 age group on May 1.

The central government has 'liberalised' the vaccination drive to allow states, private hospitals, and industrial establishments to procure the doses directly from manufacturers. However, later it announced to provide free COVID-19 vaccines to everyone above the age of 18 years from June 21. The new COVID-19 vaccination policy is a significant shift from the government's 'liberalised and accelerated' policy, announced earlier.

Registration on CoWIN platform for the third phase began on April 28 and is mandatory for the 18-44 age group.

Here are key developments related to the COVID-19 vaccination process:

- The national expert committee on COVID-19 vaccination has discussed the issue of giving booster vaccine dose and it is being looked into very deeply, NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr VK Paul said on August 10. He said it must be taken as a work in progress as science is still emerging in this area.

- At least 53 percent of the eligible population in Madhya Pradesh has been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines, while 10 percent have also taken the second dose, a senior official said on the day.

- Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said on the day that the state government has started a special vaccination drive to inoculate all pregnant women. Sidhu said the decision was taken based on the recommendations of expert committees and upon approval from the central government.

- As many as 3,05,938 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered to pregnant women till August 4, out of which 3,05,482 lakh beneficiaries have received first dose and 456 have received both doses, the Rajya Sabha was told on the day. In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for Health Bharat Pravin Pawar said about 91,104 doses have been administered to transgenders, out of which a total of 77,457 beneficiaries have received one dose and 13,647 beneficiaries have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

- If someone needing a third dose of vaccine to travel aboard cannot be given that on the ground that it would be at the expense of others in need of a jab, then it would be inappropriate to give priority in vaccination as that too would be at expense of others, Kerala High Court said on the day. The observation by Justice PB Suresh Kumar came after the central and state governments expressed their reservations in granting a third jab of vaccine to a man who has received two doses of COVAXIN but wants a third dose of an internationally recognised vaccine for travelling back to Saudi Arabia for work.

(With inputs from PTI)